Read John the Revelator for Free Online Page B

recognize any of the names.
    â€˜You pick something,’ I said. ‘I’m not much on music.’
    That wasn’t exactly true. I listened to the radio all the time, but I was still a bit intimidated by Jamey. He had more albums than I’d ever seen.
    He ran his thumb over the sleeves, selected a record and changed the music. Electronic sounds seemed to liquefy and run from the stereo’s speakers, a slippery, mercurial language I couldn’t grasp. He sat cross-legged on the floor and began to pass me books.
A Season in Hell
by Rimbaud. Dante’s
Inferno.
A broken-spined
Les Fleurs du mal
with hungry-looking orchids on the cover. I placed the books to one side.
    â€˜Your mother wasn’t what I expected,’ I said. ‘I thought she’d be a bit more...’
    â€˜What?’
    â€˜Suspicious.’
    Jamey laughed.
    â€˜Dee likes to think the best about people. She’s funny that way.’
    Jamey always referred to his parents by their first names. There was no way I could imagine calling my mother Lily.
    â€˜A bit high-strung though. Spends more money on anti-bacterial wipes than she does on food. Maurice is just as bad. Typical dentist. Did you know that dentists have one of the highest suicide rates of any profession? I reckon it’s from looking in people’s filthy mouths all day long. All that bad breath and cruddy teeth would drive anyone to the brink.’
    He waved a hand vaguely at the adjoining room.
    â€˜You want to see his study. The walls are covered with these pictures of oral diseases, abscesses and ulcers and stuff. He used to be a boxer, can you believe that? Apparently he was pretty nifty with his fists when he was a kid. Some of the trainers even thought he could try out for the Olympic team, only he quit when he was about my age. Went from knocking people’s teeth out to putting them back in.’
    He fell silent, and the music rose to fill the space.
    â€˜Y’know, I think Dee might be cheating on him.’
    The skin at the back of my neck prickled.
    â€˜Really?’
    He pursed his lips and slowly nodded.
    â€˜Either she has, or she’s about to.’
    Jamey put his back to the edge of the bed and pulled his knees up to his chin. For a moment all the self-assurance vanished.
    â€˜A couple of months ago I was upstairs in Donahue’s,’ he said quietly. ‘It’s like this disco bar, they’ve an extension at the weekends. One night during the Easter holidays I went in there to see if there was anything stirring, you know, chick-wise.’
    His voice wobbled and he had to clear his throat before going on.
    â€˜Dee was, um...’
    â€˜What?’
    â€˜Dancing. In the middle of a crowd of blokes. And she was wearing this little black dress. Like a cocktail dress.’
    I pictured Dee in a little black number. She was in pretty good shape.
    â€˜Did anything happen?’
    He sort of grimaced.
    â€˜I didn’t hang around.’
    We sat and listened to the music and drank our coffee. After a few minutes we felt the front door slam and heard stomping up the stairs.
    â€˜Here comes his lordship,’ Jamey said. ‘We’ll get no peace now.’
    The door burst open and his little brother barrelled in, a chubby moon-faced youngster with a thick mop of hair, huge eyes and an even bigger grin. He threw his arms around Jamey, who hugged him back.
    â€˜Ollie,’ he said, ‘I want you to meet a friend of mine. This is John.’
    The boy stared at me, his belly bulging beneath a bright blue T-shirt with a yellow Superman insignia. His chin was shiny with dribble. He grabbed my sleeve and started to tug.
    â€˜Cartoons,’ he said.
    â€˜What’s that?’
    He tugged harder.
    â€˜Cart
ooons.
’
    Jamey translated.
    â€˜He wants us to watch television with him.’
    He gently began to push his little brother out of the room.
    â€˜Not now, Ollie. Me and John need to